"We are young, we run green,
Keep our teeth nice and clean,
See our friends, see the sights,
Feel alright..."
IT was the mid-1990s, Britpop was well in full swing and a bunch of cheeky chappies called Supergrass burst onto the music scene with this playful little ditty.
They were hailed as the new Monkees, there was even talk of a TV deal with Steven Spielberg. Of course, none of that came to pass, but what did follow were six studio albums and some cracking tunes.
On closer inspection, their breakthrough hit Alright bore little resemblance to the rest of the fare on their excellent debut album I Should Coco (probably why Mr Spielberg took a pass).
Anyway, my Supergrass-soundtracked youth came back to me when I picked up a can of I Should Coco – a coconut stout from Portrush brewers Lacada.
This one has been knocking about in various iterations for a while now, but I haven't managed to get my gob around it until last week, dispensing it from the 440ml can it came in.
It was timely enough, given the hoo-ha over the non-inclusion of Bounty bars in tubs of Celebrations, which turned out to be a bit of a non-story in itself, but which also gave Lacada the opportunity to be a bit playful with their marketing of this coconut stout.
The beer itself clocks in at 6.4 per cent, which is hefty enough, but all those rough edges have been smoothed off this one and you don't get much of an idea of the strength due to the silky, smooth mouthfeel.
It pours a glossy, black colour in the glass with a minimal, slightly off-white head.
There are sweet, roasty aromas with a little hint of that coconut peeping through.
You get a flood of that sweetness on the palate on the first gulp, all washed down with that velvety smoothness.
There's a nice toasty feel to it all. It's a milk stout, so you're going to get a creamy feel to it and there's little in the way of bitterness, except for the sort you get from the roasted malts.
The toasted coconut brings a nice nutty sweetness to it all and this is a rich and satisfying stout to sup on days when the weather is less than tropical.
